lavender and roses

Monday, May 30, 2011

I'm still playing along and practising with Lisa's Photo Card Tutorial - Part 2 ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture http://sideoatsandscribbles.wumple.com/2011/05/24/card-photography-series-2-iso-shutter-speed-and-aperture/ . I have taken several pictures of this very old photograph of a clarinet player using different ISO speeds and different settings for the white balance. This photo is a favourite of mine as the clarinet player is my dear father and the photo was hand coloured many many years ago by my dear mother. (both passed away now)

ISO 400

ISO 200

ISO 100

ISO Auto

I have used a tripod to take these pictures and used Picnik to sharpen them as it was a very dreary rainy day.
Although, I think that the ISO 400 photo is the one I favour, it's the ISO 200 photo that resembles the original.

Thank you sweet Lisa for offering these tutorials ... taking photos are getting to be more fun!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I received this Versatile Blogger Award from the very sweet and very creative Lai-Yoke! I love to visit Lai-Yoke’s beautiful blog walchow Design as there is always something wonderful to see, whether it’s tulips, a beautiful card or a gorgeous hand made bag!http://walchowdesign.blogspot.com/Thank you so much Lai-Yoke for giving this award to me, it is so sweet that you were thinking of me J !

To accept this award I need to

Thank the person who gave this award to me.Thanks so very much Lai Yoke, you are the sweetest!

Copy the award and put it on the blog.Done.

Tell seven things about myself:

1st:I am blessed with a wonderful husband, son, daughter and son-in-law. We have two very old cats(approx 17/18 years old).

2nd:I’m a country girl … I love to have trees, fields and wildflowers all around me. I love to hike, go for walks or just listen to the birds.

3rd: I hate bad traffic, honking horns and refined white bread .

4th:I love French baguettes, homemade soup and strong coffee.

5th:I don’t have a sweet tooth and was never too crazy for chocolate until my girlfriend brought me home some chocolate from Belgium that was made with fresh cream… that changed me forever … now I love chocolate!

6th:I love everything that is creative. That would include drawing, painting, sculpture, making hand made cards, cooking, baking and gardening. I’m so sad that there’s not enough time to do everything and work too!

7th: When I make a hand made card, in my mind, I am really making a miniature piece of artwork .

Sending a hug ... from my garden. This card is a collage of several images, some new, some from my stash. The stamped images are from Hero Arts and Tim Holtz. This reminds me of Jacqueline's beautiful style http://myscrapbasket.blogspot.com/ . Sending you a hug Jacqueline! :)

Saturday, May 28, 2011

The second part of Lisa's photo tutorial http://sideoatsandscribbles.wumple.com/2011/05/24/card-photography-series-2-iso-shutter-speed-and-aperture/ is focusing on ISO (film speed), Shutter Speed and Aperture. Lisa explains that the higher the film speed, the more you can see the film's grain in the photo. I am using a SONY 3x cyber-shot automatic digital camera. The still life arrangement on my window sill was already there, I didn't try to rearrange anything for the sake of a perfect composition. I am just trying to get an understanding of the ISO function. I think that I have absorbed quite a bit of the information that Lisa has been teaching ... but it's going to take some practice! These photographs were taken at 10:00 this evening. I did not use a tripod. When I resized the photos to extra-large, I certainly could see the difference in the film's grain on the photo. There was much more grain on the window screen in the ISO 400 photo than the other settings. I liked the look of the ISO 200 photo. I apologize for not leaving the photos in the extra-large mode but they were too big for the blog.

ISO 400

ISO 200

ISO 100

ISO Auto

I hope that you are joining Lisa for this tutorial, it's a lot of fun!

I wanted to share two very jazzy tags I made with graphic45 Curtain Call Collection, Coredinations paper and a little bit of lace, ribbon and string. I also used HERO ARTS Friend Definition as a background stamp.

We've had a couple of beautiful days here ... perfect for strolling in the garden ! I'm so happy the good weather is finally here!

I took the photographs of this card on the tile bathtub ledge near a south window that has a sheer white curtain. The time is close to noon and it is a warm sunny day today : ) I tried three different settings on the White Balance menu of my camera.

This is the WB setting .

This one is the Cloud setting.

This is the Auto setting.

My whites range from yellow-white to blue-white! I seem to prefer the card photographed with the cloud setting, even though it's a sunny day ! ?

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Today's ATC is made with Hero Arts Floating Garden, Bird Trio and Musical Collage. I added a little sewing, some twine and lots of gems.

Thank you for visiting ! It rained most of today, but I took the opportunity to visit the garden centre during my lunch break. So many beautiful flowers! I saw petunias that looked like black velvet with yellow stripes and there were some with pink stripes. I loved that rich contrast! I am very tempted to get a few for my urn this year ... if it ever stops raining ! :(

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful day! We're having lots of rain this week (where I live), which is okay because everything looks clean and fresh ... the plants are all growing and the flowers are blooming! Yay!

I hope you enjoy this ATC. It's made with Hero Arts Stamps Antique Engravings and Musical Collage, pattern paper, a piece of black ribbon, a few black gems and a little bit of sewing.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

I received this beautiful card and all of these wonderful goodies, all co-ordinating :) , from Barb!. I love the gorgeous soft Spring colours and the delicate lacy butterflies, so elegant and feminine ... SO BEAUTIFUL! And so very thoughtful! (sending you a big hug Barb!)

Monday, May 9, 2011

So much to be happy about ... Beautiful weather, the sun is shining and the flowers are starting to bloom!!

I made this ATC with the following HERO ARTS STAMPS: Antique Engravings, Florish Grids, Musical Collage, Friend Definition and the Rose stamp from Two Birds (3 Images). I backed this ATC with two pieces of cardstock, one white and the other aqua.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

A simple ATC using HERO ARTS Printed Flowers Stamp to make this home made flower, HERO ARTS French Post Stamp, printed paper of the lady with roses and three very tiny gems. This ATC is backed with two pieces of cardstock, one white and one coloured with charcoal ink. For instruction on how to make this Hero Arts Flower, please see my previous post 'Forever'.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The hand made flower on this ATC is made with several stampings of the HERO ARTS Printed Flowers (three sizes), inked up, a hole punctured in the centre of each flower, all layers put together with a brad, flower misted with water, crunched up, shaped and left to dry. If that sounds a bit complicated, it's not. Also used was HERO ARTS All Occasion Messages, the leaf from Find Joy, the script from Bird Collage and French Post. I used a small piece of sheet music, patterned paper, I did a little sewing and added quite a few gems.

I hope you had a wonderful day !

Here is another photo of the cubs, they're getting a bit bigger. They were jumping and playing until they spotted me taking their photograph, then they became very interested in me!
Thanks so much for visiting!

I made this ATC with HERO ARTS Long Stem Flowers, Clings Dots, Friend Definition, a piece of sheet music and paper with the word 'always', a piece of string and three very tiny beads. I coloured one poppy and several stems with Derwent Coloursoft Pencils and one Laurentien (Tangerine) Pencil.

Friday, May 6, 2011

I made this simple ATC with HERO ARTS Antique Engravings stamp and the Messages stamp.
I used patterned paper for the background, a bit of lace and lots of pearls and gems. I backed my ATC with two pieces of cardstock, one white and the other blue.

Monday, May 2, 2011

I went for a walk this morning with my camera with hopes of finding spring blossoms but knowing it was still too early. As I walked toward the old apple orchard, I remembered the mother fox I saw a few days ago and I started wishing that I would come across a family of fox again this year. As my eyes gazed over the small hill, I noticed a colour that was warmer than any of the other part of the landscape. As I focused a little more, I saw movement, and knew I had come across the fox family! I tried to move very slowly and quietly to get a little closer, as I knew the mother would be watching me. One of the little cubs noticed me and got so excited, he jumped over the fence to get a closer look. The mother fox must have scolded him because he returned quite quickly.

I hope you enjoyed these photographs. I wasn't fully prepared to take these pictures so they're not as clear as they could have been.

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If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain, if I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain ... Emily Dickinson

garden rose

About Me

I live in the countryside near a small town in Ontario, Canada. I have always had a passion for painting, hiking and gardening. I love nature and wildlife. More recently, I have developed a love of creating home made cards. I am blessed with a wonderful husband, son, daughter and son-in-law. I would like to welcome you to my blog and hope to inspire you through my creative ideas, designs , home made cards and perhaps a few photos. Thanks so much for visiting. Please come again.